There is no longer... there?

"There" a 3D virtual world similar to Second life announced yesterday that it is closing due to a lack of revenue. As it seems even virtual worlds are able to becom victim to the ongoing recession.
"There" was created as an alternative to the Second life community, a cleaner, more child friendly place to say the least.
The website for the game describes itself:

"There is your everyday hangout where you can have fun with your friends and meet new ones -- all in a lush 3D environment that's yours to explore!"

The story was picked up by New World Notes a blog dedicated to following news in and around second life. The story: "No There there: Corporate-Friendly, PG-Rated Alternative to Second Life Closes Due to Lack of Revenue" focuses on the reasons behind the closure of Second Lifes competitor.

In a recent press release titled "There.com is closing on March 9th, 2010" "There" CEO Michael Wilson stated:

"at the end of the day, we can't cure the recession, and at some point we have to stop writing checks to keep the world open. There's nothing more we would like to avoid this, but There is a business, and a business that can't support itself doesn't work. Before the recession hit, we were incredibly confident and all indicators were "directionally correct" and we had every reason to believe growth would continue. But, as many of you know personally, the downturn has been prolonged and severe, and ultimately pervasive.

We're very sorry to announce that There.com will be closing to the public at 11:59 PM on March 9th, 2010."

The story was also picked up by "Massively", a websited dedicated to daily news about MMOs. (Also known as a massively multiplayer online game. An MMO is a video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and feature at least one persistent world.) The writers at Massively seemed to be far less surprised by the closing of the company.

As well as a number of personal websites, and forums picked up the story. The gaming community will be at a loss on March 9th.